New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Monday asked former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti to file an affidavit on the status of a case pending before the NHRC on his controversial midnight campaign against an alleged drug and prostitution racket in the capital.
Justice V.K. Shali also asked Bharti to indicate in the affidavit whether he appeared before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Dec 8 and if he received the documents of the NHRC, about which nothing was mentioned in the plea.
The court’s order came after it inquired about the status of the case and nothing was mentioned about it in the plea and the Centre said it was also not aware of the status.
The court was hearing a plea by Bharti against the NHRC order to pay Rs.25,000 each to 12 African women “victims of racial prejudice and unlawful acts”, whose homes the Aam Aadmi Party leader had allegedly barged into during a controversial midnight campaign.
The AAP leader and the then law minister had allegedly visited a house in Khirki Extension area in south Delhi in January after receiving complaints about an alleged prostitution and drug racket being run from there.
Seeking directions to nullify the Sep 29 order of the NHRC, Bharti’s plea said the decision had no jurisdiction as he was not given a “reasonable opportunity” to be heard and to produce evidence in his defence.
Calling for the order to be declared a “nullity in law”, the plea said: “Bharti was not given any notice of certain proceedings initiated by the NHRC suo motu in January 2014, in which he was prejudicially viewed by the NHRC to be a principal actor, but in which proceedings he was not given any opportunity at all of being heard.”
Filed through advocate Deepak Khosla, the plea said the commission, while announcing the compensation, said it believed that the human rights of the African women were violated and hence the case was fit for monetary relief.
The plea said the NHRC direction gives an impression that the allegations were “prima facie proved”.